[Peace-discuss] Propagandists Are Freaking Out Over Gabbard’s Destruction Of Harris

Thu Aug 1 19:22:18 UTC 2019

Propagandists Are Freaking Out Over Gabbard’s Destruction Of Harris
ARTICLE, NEWS AUGUST 1, 2019AUTHOR: CAITLIN JOHNSTONE
Propagandists Are Freaking Out Over Gabbard’s Destruction Of Harris

In the race to determine who will serve as Commander in Chief of the most powerful military force in the history of civilization, night two of the CNN Democratic presidential debates saw less than six minutes dedicated to discussing US military policy during the 180-minute event.

That’s six, as in the number before seven. Not sixty. Not sixteen. Six. From the moment Jake Tapper said “I want to turn to foreign policy” to the moment Don Lemon interrupted Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard just as she was preparing to correctly explain how President Trump is supporting Al-Qaedain Idlib, approximately five minutes and fifty seconds had elapsed. The questions then turned toward the Mueller report and impeachment proceedings.

Night one of the CNN debates saw almost twice as much time, with a whole eleven minutes by my count dedicated to questions of war and peace for the leadership of the most warlike nation on the planet. This discrepancy could very well be due to the fact that night two was the slot allotted to Gabbard, whose campaign largely revolves around the platform of ending US warmongering. CNN is a virulent establishment propaganda firm with an extensive history of promoting lies and brazen psyops in facilitation of US imperialism, so it would make sense that they would try to avoid a subject which would inevitably lead to unauthorized truth-telling on the matter.

But the near-absence of foreign policy discussion didn’t stop the Hawaii congresswoman from getting in some unauthorized truth-telling anyway. Attacking the authoritarian prosecutorial record of Senator Kamala Harris to  thunderous applause from the audience, Gabbard criticized the way her opponent “put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana,” “blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the court’s forced her to do so,” “kept people in prisons beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of California,” and “fought to keep the cash bail system in place that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way.”

Harris, who it turns out fights very well when advancing but folds under pressure, had no answer for Gabbard’s attack, preferring to focus on attacking Joe Biden instead. Later, when she was a nice safe distance out of Gabbard’s earshot, she uncorked a long-debunked but still effective smear which establishment narrative managers have been dying for an excuse to run wild with.

“This, coming from someone who has been an apologist for an individual, Assad, who has murdered the people of his country like cockroaches,” Harris told Anderson Cooper after the debate. “She who has embraced and been an apologist for him in a way that she refuses to call him a war criminal. I can only take what she says and her opinion so seriously and so I’m prepared to move on.”

That was all it took. Harris’ press secretary Ian Sams unleashed a string of tweets about Gabbard being an “Assad apologist”, which was followed by a deluge of establishment narrative managers who sent the word “Assad” trending on Twitter, at times when Gabbard’s name somehow failed to trend despite being the top-searched candidate on Google after the debate. As of this writing, “Assad” is showing on the #5 trending list on the side bar of Twitter’s new layout, while Gabbard’s name is nowhere to be seen. This discrepancy has drawn criticism from numerous Gabbard defenders on the platform.

“Somehow I have a hard time believing that ‘Assad’ is the top trending item in the United States but ‘Tulsi’ is nowhere to be found,” tweeted journalist Michael Tracey.

It really is interesting how aggressively the narrative managers thrust this line into mainstream consciousness all at the same time.

The Washington Post‘s Josh Rogin went on a frantic, lie-filled Twitter storm as soon as he saw an opportunity, claiming with no evidence whatsoever that Gabbard lied when she said she met with Assad for purposes of diplomacy and that she “helped Assad whitewash a mass atrocity”, and falsely claiming that “she praised Russian bombing of Syrian civilians“.

In reality all Gabbard did was meet with Assad to discuss the possibility of peace, and, more importantly, she said the US shouldn’t be involved in regime change interventionism in Syria. This latter bit of business is the real reason professional war propagandists like Rogin are targeting her; not because they honestly believe that a longtime US service member and sitting House Representative is an “Assad apologist”, but because she commits the unforgivable heresy of resisting the mechanics of America’s forever war.

MSNBC’s Joy Reid gleefully leapt into the smearing frenzy, falsely claiming that “Gabbard will not criticize Assad, no matter what.” Gabbard has publicly and unequivocally both decried Assad as a “brutal dictator” and claimed he’s guilty of war crimes, much to the irritation of anti-imperialists like myself who hold a far more skeptical eye to the war propaganda narratives about what’s going on in Syria. At no time has Gabbard ever claimed that Assad is a nice person or that he isn’t a brutal leader; all she’s done is say the US shouldn’t get involved in another regime change war there because US regime change interventionism is consistently and predictably disastrous. That’s not being an “Assad apologist”, that’s having basic common sense.

“Beware the Russian bots and their promotion of Tulsi Gabbard and sowing racial dischord [sic], especially around Kamala Harris,” tweeted New York Times and CNN contributor Wajahat Ali.

All the usual war cheerleaders from Lindsey Graham to Caroline Orr to Jennifer Rubin piled on, because this feeding frenzy had nothing to do with concern that Gabbard adores Bashar al-Assad and everything to do with wanting more war. Add that to the fact that Gabbard just publicly eviscerated a charming, ambitious and completely amoral centrist who would excel at putting a friendly humanitarian face on future wars if elected, and it’s easy to understand why the narrative managers are flipping out so hard right now.

Michael Tracey
✔
@mtracey
To repeat: There is no quote in which Tulsi praises, supports, or otherwise "apologies for" Assad. I checked the record a long time ago, and it doesn't exist. This is just a smear intended to delegitimize diplomatic engagement https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-the-baseless-vilification-of-tulsi-gabbard-20190117-story.html …

The baseless vilification of Tulsi Gabbard: She's not an Assad apologist; she simply believes in...
The knives came swiftly out for Tulsi Gabbard, the four-term Congresswoman from Hawaii, immediately after she announced last week that she intends to run for President. Gabbard inspires a particula...
nydailynews.com

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War is the glue that holds the empire together. A politician can get away with opposing some aspects of the status quo when it comes to healthcare or education, but war as a strategy for maintaining global dominance is strictly off limits. This is how you tell the difference between someone who actually wants to change things and someone who’s just going through the motions for show; the real rebels forcefully oppose the actual pillars of empire by calling for an end to military bloodshed, while the performers just stick to the safe subjects.

The shrill, hysterical pushback that Gabbard received last night was very encouraging, because it means she’s forcing them to fight back. In a media environment where the war propaganda machine normally coasts along almost entirely unhindered in mainstream attention, the fact that someone has positioned themselves to move the needle like this says good things for our future. If our society is to have any chance of ever throwing off the omnicidal, ecocidal power establishment which keeps us in a state of endless war and soul-crushing oppression, the first step is punching a hole in the narrative matrix which keeps us hypnotized into believing that this is all normal and acceptable.

Whoever controls the narrative controls the world. Whoever disrupts that narrative control is doing the real work.

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Conventional Politicians Are Infinitely Weirder Than Marianne Williamson
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	• 
NIELSON / AUGUST 1, 2019
In other news, Forbes reports that Rachael Maddow has dropped from being the #1 most watched cable news show (March ’18) to the #5 most watch cable news show. She now trails even Laura Ingraham. Maddow has lost over half a million estimated viewers, or about 16% of her previous leading total. As Lincoln once said, you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. Not even brain-dead, American Democrats.
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	• 
COCOA / AUGUST 1, 2019
I love how talking to Assad about the ruinous policy and murder of his people by US-backed ISIS rebels and bombings is some sort of traitorous event. Big Defense and Big Media have been cutting Gabbard off by the knees as she is the biggest threat to their gravy train in decades. Lying, pitching that Assad crap, ignoring her in the news, cutting off her search Google Buys…the Deep State and media are pulling out all the stops on Gabbard because they know she is coming for them.
Would you rather be alive and under Assad, or rejoicing in the rubble of “American Democracy” by Drone
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	• 
NJH / AUGUST 1, 2019
Tulsi has restored my faith in a democratic anti-war candidate. I have switched to the Green Party, but sadly, its outstanding platform is silenced in every meaningful way due to our war-loving/promoting derelict 1%. Tulsi fights like a Kennedy. She’s incredibly honest–a no-no for those who live, breathe and eat plunder for regime change. I pray for her safety…she walks on delicate ground. She is real leader-well above any other candidate right or left… and that sets her up for geopolitical target practice.
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		• 
BAHMI / AUGUST 1, 2019
Tulsi is a one trick pony. However, she’s just your typical Israel loving groveler worshiping the ground the jews tread on. She’s puke, on the whole.
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	• 
JOSEPH OLSON / AUGUST 1, 2019
CIA Operation Zero Footprint, the Obombie & Reptillary plan to arm the big Mo hood and overthrow Tunisian, Yemen, Egypt, Libya and Syria was only stopped by brave humanitarian Putin. White Helmet staged fake chemical attacks prompted PDJT missile attacks.
Russians killed thousands of CIA/ISIS terrorists….
“We killed hundreds of Russians” ~ madman Pompeo
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	• 
LEONARD MICHAEL ROSS / AUGUST 1, 2019
Joy Reid on NBC attacked Tulsi mercilessly, along with her fellow clones, on Assad and even had the chutzpah to mention her (repudiated by Tulsi) anti-LGBTQ views which is hillarious considering her own homophobic tweets. But when MSM venom against Tulsi drips, there is no gutter regime-change apologists are not willing to deep dive. But Andersen Cooper interviewed her in his post-debate show and Tulsi defends herself brilliantly, making scion Cooper squirm uncomfortably as she eviscerated his “Assad is a mass-murderer” gotcha attempts. But, to his credit, he was reasonably fair otherwise and gave her a more substantial platform to express her views than the debate did.
MSM, previously, was touting Harris as the fierce debate contender that would bring Trump down, based on her prosecutor skills, failing to realize that grilling a literally sitting target defendent is a lot different than dealing with someone who can fire back. When Harris tried to deflect with all the good she has done in California Tulsi riposted with a counterattack that sealed Harris’ debate doom. Harris had her ass handed to her on a platter festooned with an aloha lei, compliments of TG. Karma kickback kicked back and Harris and her campaign pulled out all the lamestream stops citing Russian support of Tulsi, regurgitating a bogus report, to staunch the bleeding. But Tulsi is a soldier, combat veteran, strategist and martial artist as she pulled off the bushido “one strike, one kill” manuever in a crowded field of debate opponents. Perhaps Kamala can commiserate with Tim Ryan and whine that Tulsi is unfair because she did give out a trigger warning beforehand.
Sometimes good guys do wear white.
REPLY
	• 
CUTTHECORD / AUGUST 1, 2019
BDS Israhell and everyone / everything that sustains the evil, in every possible way, everyday.
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	• 
GLIDER / AUGUST 1, 2019
Great article. This is a perfect example of blatant organized MSM propaganda to support their donor class bosses. The phrase “Assad Apologist” is repeated dutifully by these well paid servants. Like other phrases such as “They Hate Us for our Freedoms” from their “greatist hits list” these are an organized media conspiracy to control public opinion.
This article is great at pointing out the very dangerous development that this election cycle will reveal extreme donor class interference in our corporate social media. Not Russiagate BS, but real systematic heavy duty interference and thought control. This huge danger is not apparent to the average voter and IMO will absolutely occur. The censorship mechanisms have already been installed at FB and Twitter. They will not just sit on this capability. It is going to be used.
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	• 
CHUCKNOBOMB / AUGUST 1, 2019
I thank all who put a cog in the wheel. Wage Peace and Justice. Keep On…
REPLY
	• 
CHUCKNOBOMB / AUGUST 1, 2019
I thank all who put a cog in the wheel. Wage Peace and Justice.
REPLY
	• 
TOM WELSH / AUGUST 1, 2019
” I suppose Tulsi’s attack on The Great Brown Hope…”
I was wondering about that. Judging by the photograph provided with the article, Tulsi is just as brown.
Ha ha, Virtue Points!!
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	• 
CLEMENTINE / AUGUST 1, 2019
If those who oppose invading another country, bombing its civilians, and overthrowing its government are always called “Assad Apologists”, then it only seems to be fair and just to return the serve by calling those who support the radical jihadists a bunch of “Al Qaida Apologists”. Lets try it out, Al-Qaida Apologist Harris was challenged on her disgusting record as a prosecutor during last night’s debate. Yeah, seems about right.
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		• 
TOM WELSH / AUGUST 1, 2019
It should also be pointed out – unfailingly – that Al-Qaeda apologists are obviously in favour of burning people alive, drowning them in cages which are thrown into swimming pools, cutting their heads off with penknives, and cutting out their hearts and livers and eating them raw.
To mention only some of the less horrible acts.
Since a week is a long time in politics and (as Gore Vidal remarked) “USA” actually stands for “United States of Amnesia”, it may not be worth noting that the US government itself blames Al-Qaeda for 9/11.
But what they hey… they are Christians, aren’t they, and so what is more natural than that they should forgive what was done to other people 18 years ago.
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			• 
TOM WELSH / AUGUST 1, 2019
Oh, I forgot “crucifying Christian civilians, including children”.
My bad.
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		• 
CUTTHECORD / AUGUST 1, 2019
the “al-qaida apologists” created al-qaida. apology is justified.
REPLY
	• 
TOM WELSH / AUGUST 1, 2019
“At no time has Gabbard ever claimed that Assad is a nice person or that he isn’t a brutal leader…”
Although one might reasonably ask (if one wasn’t a demented, amoral armaments warmonger) how many important political leaders – anywhere in the world – are “nice people” or incapable of brutality when the situation requires it.
Indeed, while – like the vicar who was asked his opinion of sin – I am in general against brutality, surely a person who is incapable of it cannot be qualified to lead a country.
Certainly if, like Mr Assad, he sees his country invaded by hundreds of thousands of heavily-armed, murderous, fundamentalist mercenaries for whose beliefs and behaviour the word “brutal” is shockingly inadequate. Mercenaries recruited, armed, supplied, advised, protected and paid by the very people who criticize the forces of law and order as “brutal” and “not nice”.
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		• 
CLEMENTINE / AUGUST 1, 2019
The only leader in my lifetime that I can think of that might possibly be called A Nice Person is Jimmy Carter. Carter is routinely vilified and derided in America as a weak and ineffectual leader and as the worst President. And I suspect he wasn’t really all that nice or else he wouldn’t have risen to the top of the dogpile to be first a governor and then President. To do either usually requires some acts that are ‘not nice’.
REPLY
			• 
TOM WELSH / AUGUST 1, 2019
Yes, that theme runs right through history. A famous example from English history is King Stephen, who – as I was taught at school – was A Weak King and therefore a VERY Bad Thing.
On the other hand, he showed exceptional mercy and kindness – unlike more famous and “Good” kings like Richard I “The Lionheart” who, after capturing Jerusalem, had over 2,000 Muslim prisoners slaughtered like sheep for no particular reason. Or Henry I, who arranged the death of his brother King William II Rufus in a “hunting accident”, then had his other elder bother Robert imprisoned for the rest of his life so he could be king.
The list goes on…
REPLY
	• 
CLEMENTINE / AUGUST 1, 2019
I saw a poll the other day which said that 70% of Americans view Drug Addiction as, I forget the exact wording, but something like “A Very Serious Problem” in America. It was the highest issue on the list. The Opioid Crisis apparently was not mentioned at all in this debate. I’m not as brave as Caitlin, so I haven’t watched these things, but I don’t recall any discussion of it being mentioned so far in the debates. I suppose Tulsi’s attack on The Great Brown Hope for her record of imprisoning people on offenses concerning a non-addicting substance which has since been legalized in CA (Harris opposed the first attempt and was quiet on the 2nd which succeeded.), is as close as we get. Why didn’t Jack Trap ask a question about the biggest problem facing America? How much advertising money does CNN collect in a year from the Big Pharma industry that was at the core of the crisis? Cui Bono.
REPLY
		• 
MISS MARGARET / AUGUST 1, 2019
Keep in mind, tho, the big push to legalize pot, and then other drugs, everywhere, and further cloud people’s brains against study, the development of a better world for themselves & others by learning, organizing and participating, and avoiding the culture of self interest and pleasure seeking over interest in the condition of the many, is mainly coming from people like pro legalize king George Soros, former Speaker of the House, now DC pot lobbyist John Boehner, Wall Street and other investors. Pot stocks are selling like mad, and if legalized, online WS trade mag Motley Fool suggests potentially a trillion dollar business, at our expense in many ways, including thinking there’s ‘nothing wrong’ with a little pot smoking. Just look at some of our youth, many are stoned on any given day and some have very low school scores. It’s MANY things, but pot does NOT motivate, it does the opposite; who put pot & other drugs into our neighborhoods? We should want everyone to be clear-headed and sharp so they can develop to their full potentialities, and also figure out ‘who, what, why’, and fight against those who use every trick in the book to dumb them down, demoralize them and control them. Drug use is an old trick of Empires, as the British Empire (still alive & well in tandem with U.S. partners) Opium wars proved.
And I do know of what I speak on the subject, not just anti-drug for no reason.
REPLY
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Retweet on TwitterCaitlin Johnstone ⏳ RetweetedThe Alternative World3h
"As of this writing, 'Assad' is showing on the #5 trending list on the side bar of Twitter’s new layout, while Gabbard’s name is nowhere to be seen."
@caitoz

#DemocraticDebate2020 #TulsiGabbard#KamalaHarris
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Caitlin Johnstone ⏳3h
"In the race to determine who will serve as Commander in Chief of the most powerful military force in the history of civilization, night two of the CNN Democratic presidential debates saw less than 6 minutes dedicated to discussing US military policy during the 180-minute event."
Caitlin Johnstone ⏳@caitoz
Propagandists Are Freaking Out Over Gabbard’s Destruction Of Harris

"As of this writing, 'Assad' is showing on the #5 trending list on the side bar of Twitter’s new layout, while Gabbard’s name is nowhere to be seen."
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Retweet on TwitterCaitlin Johnstone ⏳ RetweetedHRivera3h
This is incredible and substantive writing by @caitoz on the war machine and @TulsiGabbard's groundbreaking performance in last night debate. A must read.
#KamalaHarrisDestroyed
#Tulsi2020 https://t.co/NHm21qJp6K
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Retweet on TwitterCaitlin Johnstone ⏳ Retweeted🚷4h
"this feeding frenzy had nothing to do with concern that Gabbard adores Bashar al-Assad and everything to do with wanting more war. Add that to the fact that Gabbard just publicly eviscerated a charming, ambitious and completely amoral centrist. . ." https://t.co/vjE3xf8UOj
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Retweet on TwitterCaitlin Johnstone ⏳ RetweetedJosh the Pagan4h
"War is the glue that holds the empire together."

More truth by @caitoz. War propagandists are in a frenzy this morning trying to take down @TulsiGabbard. It shows you that they believe @KamalaHarris would perpetuate our wars and serve the MIC.

#KamalaHarrisDestroyedhttps://t.co/PhaHRkpACJ
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